The EPTF is a specialist task force that discusses security issues affecting the payments industry and that gathers, collates and disseminates related information, trends and general statistics.

The meeting was chaired by Mr Rui Carvalho, EAST Development Director, and was attended by key representatives from Card Issuers, International Banks, Law Enforcement, Payment Processors, Payment Providers and Solution Providers.

The Group, which meets twice a year, adds value to the payments industry by using the unique and extensive EAST National Member platform and Associate Member network to provide information and outputs that are not currently available elsewhere. EAST National Members represent 35 countries and outputs from the group are presented to National Member Meetings. There are 210 EAST Associate Member Organisations from 53 countries and territories.

The sun has set on another successful EAST Financial Crime & Security (FCS) Forum which was held for the second time at the Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus, in Scheveningen, The Hague. Feedback from delegates has been hugely positive. This year marked a new format which included plenary sessions covering expert information from global regions: Asia-Pacific (ASEAN), Latin America, USA, Russia and Europe. 19 expert speakers travelled from 14 countries around the world to share their knowledge of ATM crime prevention.

In addition an afternoon of breakout sessions was held covering topics related to ATM and payment terminal fraud, and to ATM physical attacks.

Networking opportunities were abundant – a welcome cocktail the evening before the event, ensured all delegates were comfortable to kick off the Forum having met with their peers in a relaxed environment. Exhibitors enjoyed increased traffic through the exhibition hall, giving demos to attendees during coffee breaks, lunch and demonstration sessions.

Day One of the EAST FCS Forum opened with keynote speaker Steven Wilson, Head of the Europol Cyber Crime Centre (EC3) who spoke about the multi-faceted approach to countering cybercrime and the success of public private partnerships, especially the cooperation between EC3, non-EU States and EAST members.

Lachlan Gunn, Executive Director EAST, provided relevant statistics from the EAST European ATM Crime Report. He also announced a name change for EAST which is now the European Association for Secure Transactions. A milestone for EAST which has mainly focused on issues facing the ATM industry thus far, but which will now look at all threats against payment terminals (ATM, SST and POS), as well the security of payments and transactions.

Lachlan was followed by presenters from ASEANAPOL, the US Secret Service, the Russian Mastercard Members Association, and from the Latin American Association of Operators Electronic Funds Transfer and Information Services (ATEFI), who all gave the audience the most current information on activity in their regions.

In the afternoon breakout sessions Otto de Jong, EAST EGAF Chair, led discussions which covered R&D by fraudsters on EMV and old school ATM Fraud, and Graham Mott, EAST EGAP Chair, facilitated discussions on banknote degradation, physical attack types and countermeasures and traditional attacks.

In her closing address, conference Chairman Úna Dillon, Development Director of EAST, summarised the two-day conference by noting the importance of cross-border public-private sector cooperation in the fight against financial crime – stressing the need for private sector industry stakeholders to collaborate with law-enforcement agencies. She added that whilst EAST delivered the conference, the people charged with building the event are also deeply involved in the collaborative work already going on. Their ‘on-the-ground’ involvement means the EAST FCS Forum agenda will always be relevant and current.

This 3rd EAST FCS Forum has proven to be a successful platform in bringing together the perfect mix of banking representatives, security experts, law enforcement, payments associations, government agencies and many other stakeholders in the ATM and payment crime prevention sector – the dialogue and learning from across Europe, the USA, Latin America, Russia and Asia-Pacific will no doubt help all participants to better detect and prevent current and future financial crime threats.

The event could not have taken place without the support of sponsors, exhibitors, speakers and delegates. EAST hugely appreciates the participation of all who took part and thanks everyone for their contribution to making the event a success.

Logical attacks on ATMs are on the increase in Europe and in many other parts of the world. In a report covering 2016 EAST reported 58 black box (or ‘cash out’) attacks in Europe, a rise of 287 percent compared to 2015. ATM related malware is also a growing problem and, while Europe has been largely unaffected by this, in other parts of the world there have been some significant attacks. In order to perpetrate such attacks the criminals are looking to get inside the networks of financial institutions and then to start an attack from within.

At the upcoming EAST Financial Crime & Security Forum (EAST FCS 2017) Tim Bobak of Group-IB, an organisation that specialises in preventing and investigating high-tech crimes and online fraud, will talk about global developments in ATM related theft – tactics, techniques and procedures – alongside new trends in attacks on card processing and payment systems.

About Tim Bobak

Tim Bobak moved to Moscow in 2012 from the UK. Before joining Group-IB, the leading source of threat intelligence from the former USSR and Eastern Europe, Tim worked investigating fraud and financial crime in Russian business. Currently, Tim works with the forensic lab and analyst team at Group-IB to share Russian-speaking cyber threat intelligence worldwide.

Who Is Attending?

Over 150 delegates will attend EAST FCS 2017 from ATM networks, banks, law enforcement, vendors, and EAST national and associate members.

Book soon to ensure you don’t miss this great opportunity to attend what has been described as an “excellent event for helping to make a difference in the area of financial crime prevention”.

There are some sponsor and exhibitor slots still available so, if you are in the business of ATM crime and fraud prevention and wish to take a space alongside a key audience, contact us.

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